


bluebells, brunnera, and other beautiful things

by sun_summoning



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is a good friend, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-05 03:11:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21206453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sun_summoning/pseuds/sun_summoning
Summary: When Marinette’s plant shelf breaks, Adrien comes to the rescue.





	bluebells, brunnera, and other beautiful things

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this tweet](https://twitter.com/cactusbabygurl/status/965309484066361349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Fpablovaldivia%2Fbest-boyfriends-decade).

Adrien only sees one problem here: he doesn’t think asking any of his father’s staff for power tools is going to go particularly well. Plagg, on the other hand, sees multiple other problems here.

“Beyond the fact that you aren’t even remotely handy--”

“I can be handy!”

“--you also don’t know how to use those tools--”

“Everything is on the internet nowadays.”

“--and you really don’t have the time for this project.”

“I’ll _make_ time.”

Plagg sighs deeply. Normally he doesn’t have to play the voice of reason, but somehow Adrien got it into his head that he was the one who needed to help his friend after the plant stand on her balcony broke. Marinette had moped about it to Alya earlier that day, which immediately had Adrien looking up how to make one himself. 

It would be the perfect gift for the perfect friend. 

“I realize you’re against leaving dead birds on her pillow, but isn’t this going a step too far for your crush?”

Adrien’s cheeks turn pink. “Plagg, I’ve already told you dozens of times -- Marinette is just a friend.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, you know you can just buy one, right?” Plagg throws Adrien’s phone at him. “You can save the staff the headache of your hammering.”

“I can’t just _buy_ one,” Adrien scoffs.

“She bought her first one.”

“Yeah, for herself. This is a gift from me.”

“Gifts are generally purchased.”

“Not with Marinette.” Adrien shakes his head. Positioned conveniently by the window, he leans against the panel and stares outside wistfully. The light hits him just so, making him look as lovesick as he denies being. And then to complete the entire picture, he _sighs_. 

Honestly, Plagg kind of wants to throw up. 

“Marinette _always_ makes her gifts.”

“Marinette is also _skilled_ in her craft.”

“Plagg, I’ll be fine,” Adrien assures him. “I’ve got this.”

.

.

.

So maybe Adrien did not have this. Not entirely. Not yet.

After deciding it would be best to leave power tool procurement out of any conversation he might have with Nathalie, he heads to the hardware store. He needs to get wood, a saw, a screwdriver, some screws, sandpaper, and some other things he wrote down on a list.

Eventually an employee with a kind smile comes to help him. “You look a bit lost,” the man comments.

Adrien tries not to look too bashful. “Is it that obvious?”

“Maybe I can help you?”

Adrien nods eagerly and hands the man his list. 

“I’m building a plant shelf.” He takes out his phone to show a photo of what he’s trying to accomplish.

“That’s quite the project you have there.” The man notices Adrien’s nervous grin so he pats his shoulder reassuringly. “Why don’t we gather all the supplies then?”

The man walks with him through the aisles and suggests which items Adrien should get. He asks what kinds of tools Adrien already has, but Adrien decides to just get everything new. Maybe there’s a drill or a some screws somewhere in the house, but he really doesn’t know where to look or who to ask. 

His shopping cart is mostly full when they get to the last item on Adrien’s list: paint.

“Do you have a colour in mind?”

“She likes pink,” Adrien says. “Do you have pink paint?”

“We have plenty of pink.” The man brings him to a wall of paint swatches. He chuckles when Adrien gawks at them, clearly overwhelmed. “Why don’t you take a few for now and think it over? You still need to build everything before painting.”

“That’s true.”

“And maybe you can consult the lady herself for her paint preference?”

Adrien shakes his head. “This is a surprise.”

The man smiles. “Then I’m sure your girlfriend will love it.”

Adrien promptly chokes on his own spit as he sputters out that Marinette is just a friend. In his pocket, he’s certain Plagg is laughing. 

.

.

.

Since his foosball table is the right height, Adrien decides to clamp a plank of wood to it and saw from there. 

He dons one of his older t-shirts and a pair of googles because safety is key. Then he gets to work. At first the circular saw makes him anxious. But a few levels to Marinette’s plant stand later, he feels confident. So confident that he’s humming a tune while working on the next part.

“_Adrien_, what are you _doing_?”

Apparently he hadn’t heard the door open over the sound of the circular saw. He turns the saw off and sets it down. Pushing his safety goggles into his bangs, he musters as innocent a smile as he’s capable of. If he’s learned nothing from his father’s unique brand of parenting, it’s that it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission (largely because both yield the same results).

“I’m building a plant stand.” Then he pauses. “Plant ladder. Or plant shelf? Honestly, they all same the same purpose. This is going to look more like stairs when I’m done so plant...stairs?”

“Why are you building this plant--” Nathalie gestures at the pieces of wood sprawled out on the floor, “--_thing_?”

“Marinette’s broke.”

“And?”

Adrien shifts his stance, deciding to go for dumb rather than repentant. Repentant would mean he actually felt bad, whereas Adrien is actually really enjoying himself. “It’s...broken?”

Nathalie’s lips thin. “That still doesn’t explain why you’re building this.”

“It’s a gift.”

“And?”

“It’s...from me?”

“Why can’t you just buy one?”

“Why does everyone keep asking that?” Adrien mutters. 

Nathalie looks down at her tablet. “Your driver can take you to a furniture store to purchase one after your photoshoot tomorrow.”

“No thanks.” Adrien picks up the circular saw because Nathalie never explicitly told him to stop. He grins, but with a power tool in his hand, he probably looks a little bit silly. “I’ve got this.”

A muffled snort comes from his pocket.

“I _do_.”

.

.

.

Adrien is comparing swatches of paint with utmost concentration when Nino and Alya decide to join him. Alya mentions something new on the Ladyblog, and while normally Adrien is the quickest to contribute to any conversation regarding his lady, right now he’s trying to make a decision between Romantica and August Sunrise. 

“Okay, what are you doing?” Alya glances at the rest of the other eight swatches he’s considering. 

“That’s a lot of pink buddy,” Nino says.

“I _know_.” Adrien drops the two in his hands so he can pull at his hair. “This is so stressful.”

“Are you, uh, repainting your room or something?”

“Huh?”

Nino nods towards the swatches. “Trying to pick a new colour?”

Adrien snorts. “As if I’d be allowed to change anything.”

“Then what are these for?” Alya asks.

“Uh.” 

Adrien bites his lip as he looks around wildly. So far none of their mutual friends know about his little side project, and he really wants this to stay a surprise for Marinette. He knows Nino will keep this secret to himself, but he’s not totally sure about Alya. Then again, it’s not like he a choice right now. Alya leans in, a curious gleam in her eyes.

“I’m building something,” Adrien offers.

“What is it?”

“A plant stand.”

“I didn’t know you liked plants,” Nino says. “My mom has tons of aloe she’s always trying to give to other people. I’ll bring you one--”

“No!” They both look perplexed by his denial. Adrien swallows. He glances around once again to be safe. “It’s for Marinette.”

“Marinette?” Nino echoes.

“Marinette.” Alya leans back, a contemplative expression on her face. Finally, she smiles. “She told you that her old one broke?”

“Er, not really.” Adrien rubs the back of his neck. “I kind of overheard the two of you and she seemed really upset, so I...”

“You thought you’d replace it for her?”

He nods.

“That’s really sweet, Adrien.” Alya grins. “Marinette’s going to love it.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“But that doesn’t explain the swatches,” Nino says. He still looks confused. “Unless, wait--” His eyes widen. “Are you _making_ it?”

Adrien frowns. “I don’t appreciate your tone.”

“Why can’t you just buy one?”

Adrien is starting to resent that question. He grumbles as such and crosses his arms. “Why can’t you just believe in me?”

Nino snorts. “Adrien, you’re so scrawny I can’t even imagine you picking up the wood.”

Alya bites back a giggle while Adrien makes a noise of indignation.

As usual, Plagg is quietly laughing at him too.

.

.

.

“Hey Marinette!” Adrien greets in the morning. She’s in the middle of stuffing nearly half a croissant in her mouth, so she chokes when she notices him there. He waves a hand, telling her to just finish, so she chews vigorously and swallows and then grins at him. “You’re here early.”

She laughs. “I decided it’s easier if I wake up early to work on my commissions and then go to class, rather than stay up late and tell myself I can wake up in the morning just fine.”

“Do you have a lot of commissions right now?”

Marinette nods. “Yeah.” Then she sighs. “I broke my old plant stand and wanted to replace it.”

His research showed him you could get some stands for cheap and that there were a lot of DIY methods on the internet. But from all the times he visited her balcony as Chat Noir not at all for treats and pets, he remembers hers to have been white and wooden and with intricate carvings along its edges. 

“What happened to it?” he wonders.

Marinette is quick to flush. Her cheeks are visibly pink when she looks down. “I, uh, fell on it.”

“Huh?” Adrien remembers that it was mostly against the wall right beside her chair. Personally, he’s also almost fallen on it, all those times he tried to land directly on her chair and narrowly missed crashing into all her plants instead. “How?”

“That’s really not the point. The point is it broke, _okay_?”

She sounds embarrassed, so Adrien backs off. Marinette always calls herself a klutz and he’d hate to make her feel worse.

“Do you have a new stand in mind?” he asks to steer away from that sore spot.

Marinette nods. “I do!” 

They still have a few minutes until class starts, so she pulls out her phone and goes to her screenshots. She swipes through a few versions, some ladder-like, some closer to bookshelves, and some that look like step stools. Her favourite one is painted a lovely dusty rose.

.

.

.

That evening, Adrien proceeds to assemble the pieces of wood he finished cutting and lightly sanding. He’ll do the rest of the sanding later on. For now, he balances and drills and uses the levelling tool to make sure the shelves are actually something akin to straight. When he finishes drilling in the last screw, he steps back and grins.

Plagg assesses his work with a shrug. “Not bad,” he says. “You actually did well.” 

“Why does no one think I can do this?” Adrien grumbles. “Fine, I’m not particularly handy, but I know how to use my hands for things! I can play piano! And fence! And speak, like, three other languages--”

“Kid, you don’t know Japanese. You’re just reading subtitles.”

“--and okay, that has nothing to do with my hands. What was I saying?”

Plagg plops down onto one shelf, eyes closed and body languid. He soon zips up though when the entire thing wobbles.

“Dammit!” Adrien shouts. 

“Huh.” Plagg hovers over Adrien’s shoulder as he steadies it. 

“This is your fault,” Adrien mutters.

“I’m not the one who can’t use a drill!”

“Look at your hands! You obviously can’t use a drill, Plagg!”

“Still not my fault?”

“I’m unlucky and it’s your fault.” Adrien throws upon his couch with all the grace of a distressed damsel. His hand rests on his forehead as he whines. “You and your ring and all the destruction and...and is that it? I can’t create things because only Ladybug can?”

“No.” Plagg floats over Adrien’s face. “You’re just bad at this.”

“Why can’t you just be on my side?!” 

After a sufficient amount of time spent wallowing in self-pity, Adrien stands back up and considers Marinette’s plant holder. Or, well, _the_ plant holder. There’s a chance he might not bother giving this to Marinette. He pokes it lightly, resulting in a slight sway. Then he shoves it, mostly out of curiosity, and instead of wobbling, it just falls over entirely.

“Oh no!”

Adrien scrambles to stand it back up, but groans when he notices the way it leans to the left.

His door opens after the commotion. That’s not particularly surprising. Nathalie’s at the main office today which meant he could use power tools uninterrupted, but he supposes there’s only so much noise and yelling the staff can take before someone checks up on him. Soon, his bodyguard is at his side.

“I’m fine,” Adrien assures him. 

The Gorilla’s expression hardly wavers.

“This is my plant stand for Marinette. You remember her right?”

He nods.

“She’s my friend and she makes the best gifts! And I thought I’d make this for her but...”

“Where is this going?”

Adrien blinks. He didn’t expect his bodyguard to have anything to say. “Uh, her balcony.”

“Then it needs to be able to stand up to the elements.” The Gorilla picks it up like it’s nothing more than a handful of grapes. Then he starts to shake it.

“What are you--”

He sets it down soon after. “It’s not going to fall apart,” the Gorilla tells him. “Although, admittedly, it’s a bit wobbly.” 

Adrien tries not to bring his hands to his face. “Yes, I _know_.”

“Come,” the Gorilla says, leaving his room. Adrien barely grabs Plagg as he follows him to the car. The Gorilla drives them to the hardware store, where he directs Adrien to a package of L brackets. “Get these.”

“Okay?”

“Get some more screws as well.”

“Sure?”

“I’ll wait in the car.”

Adrien picks a set coated to look gold. That would look nicest with the dusty rose paint Alya helped him pick out. He pays for the brackets and then heads to the car. The Gorilla drives them back to the mansion. Adrien looks at him curiously and his bodyguard opens the packages of brackets and screws.

“Here.” He rests one edge on the shelf level and the other on the side. “Screw this in place to reinforce the shelves.”

“And then it won’t fall apart?”

The Gorilla’s lips twitch like he wants to smile. Instead, he shakes his head. “It was never going to fall apart,” he assures Adrien. “It just needed a bit more work.”

“Okay!”

The Gorilla holds the L brackets in place while Adrien uses his drill to get the screws in. 

He only hurts himself twice and his bodyguard once in the process.

.

.

.

A few days after building and painting, Adrien still hasn’t given the plant stand to Marinette. He feels like it’s missing something, but he just can’t put his hand on _what_. He’s too busy thinking to muster a decent greeting when Lila sits beside him at the library. 

Maybe he picked the wrong colour? No, Marinette wanted a pink plant stand. Maybe there were too many shelves? But Marinette had so many plants! She needed as many shelves as she could get. So then maybe his creation was too tall when it needed to be wider. If that’s the case, then he’ll just make her another one. Perhaps he can decorate it more? The plain pink is a bit boring. Maybe white borders? Or stencils! What would Marinette like? Little kittens? Leaves? Flowers?

Girls liked flowers, right?

“Do you like flowers?” he asks Lila.

Lila blinks, taken aback by his random question. Then she grins. “Of course.”

“Do all girls like flowers?” Adrien shakes his head and winces. “Sorry. No. I shouldn’t generalize.”

Lila shrugs, something he only notices because her shoulder is inching closer and closer to his, so he inches closer and closer to the opposite edge of his seat. “Were you planning on getting me flowers, Adrien?”

“No, it’s for this plant stand I’m building.” He’s awfully proud of his handiwork, so he pulls out his phone and shows Lila a photo of the mostly finished project. “It’s just kind of...plain. I was thinking maybe I could, I don’t know...put flowers on it?” 

“That’s kind of what it’s for, Adrien.”

“Right.” Adrien leans back in his chair. When he feels Lila a bit too close for comfort, he leans to the side. “What would Marinette like?” he wonders to himself.

He hears Lila inhale sharply. Glancing at her, he watches her cover that up with a look of concern. “This is for _Marinette_?” she asks.

Adrien nods, and because he can’t help himself, he positively beams. “I really hope she likes it.”

“Oh.” Lila makes a forlorn face. “Adrien, I don’t know how to break it to you, but Marinette already got a new plant stand.”

“What?”

Lila nods. He resents how eagerly she does so in the face of his obvious disappointment. “She was telling Juleka and Rose about it earlier. She said already filled it up perfectly. And there’s no room on her balcony for another.”

“Oh.”

Adrien looks down at his lap, completely missing Lila’s little grin. He supposes he could just scrap the gift. It wasn’t like it was Marinette’s birthday or anything. The plant stand was just to repay Marinette’s unfailing friendship. She always helped her friends without them even asking. He just wanted to do the same. The plant stand was one of those “just because” presents. Something to show Marinette that he knows she’s amazing and kind and generous and that he would give her the world if he could. Or whatever. Something like that.

Adrien sits up straight when one brain cell makes itself known. He turns to Lila. “Okay, thanks for letting me know.”

“No problem,” she replies slowly. “I’m sorry you wasted your time, Adrien. I’m sure there are other people that might appreciate your hard work though.”

“Nah.” Adrien shakes his head. He spots Marinette across the library and stands. He packs his bag, expertly dodging Lila when she tries to grab him. “It just means I get to buy Marinette some plants to put on it!”

“_What_.”

“Thanks for the idea, Lila!”

.

.

.

The thing is, Adrien knows nothing about plants. Fortunately, he has another friend that’s amazing and kind and generous who also knows a lot about plants. Ladybug is always careful about identities, but she has a habit of pointing out random plants they might see and mentioning that she has the same one in her garden. He hopes he gets to see that garden one day. And if Marinette’s plant stand turns out to be a hit, maybe he can make one for Ladybug too. 

“In addition to being my lady, you’re also a plant lady, right?” 

Ladybug snorts. “I can keep things alive, yes.”

“Great. I need to buy some plants for my friend but I have absolutely no idea what to get.”

“How many?”

“Uh.” Chat Noir starts doing some basic addition with his fingers. “I don’t know. Maybe three plants along four shelves?”

“What kind of lighting does this spot get?”

“Sun...light?”

“Direct?”

“Oh.” He nods. “Yes. I guess? It’s for a balcony.”

“That helps.”

Ladybug takes his baton from him and opens up the notepad app. She’s busy typing names of plants that thrive in direct sunlight, which these ones will inevitably get. She explains various things about those plants and their needs, but Chat Noir is mostly just thinking about how their “phones” have apps at all and how they connect to the internet. Were they hackable then? He had so many questions--

“Anyway, don’t fill the entire shelf up.”

Chat Noir blinks. Ladybug is giving him a look that tells him she knows he definitely wasn’t paying attention. When he grins sheepishly, she hands him back his baton and rolls her eyes. 

“How come?”

Ladybug smiles. “Sometimes plants get a bit too big for their pots, or they have little pups of their own that need repotting. If you get your friend some of the ones I wrote down for you, her garden will definitely be multiplying in a few months. She’s going to need the space.”

“But are you sure?”

“Why, kitty, are you doubting your lady?”

Chat Noir laughs. “I would never.”

.

.

.

As it turns out, transporting everything is difficult. There’s no way he can hand Marinette the plant shelf and the seven potted plants he selected at _school_, so he asks the Gorilla to bring it all with him when he picks him up later. Knowing Marinette has a student council meeting after classes end, he heads to her house where Sabine lets him in. When Tom notices him struggling awkwardly, he takes the shelf and tells Adrien to just bring up the plants.

After everything has been brought up to Marinette’s balcony, Adrien gets to work setting it up. He leans it against one wall and puts the wall brackets on Marinette’s chair so they can put them in later. As he arranges the plants he brought along with him, he notices all her other pots lined up against the rails.

Where was the new plant stand Lila mentioned?

“Really kid?” Plagg zips around with zero regard for the daylight and the people that are unlikely to see him. “She was lying.”

“What?” Adrien frowns. “Why would Lila lie?”

“I don’t know. Why do cats purr?”

“What?”

Plagg just shakes his head and floats down to Marinette’s chair. “Just let me know when we’re leaving. Or when the cheese arrives.”

Frowning, Adrien goes to retrieve Marinette’s original plants. He arranges them along the shelf he built her and mixes them among his new plants. When everything is settled, he grins. 

“Plagg, Marinette is going to _love_ this--”

“Adrien?!”

Adrien looks down at the hatch and finds Marinette climbing out. She stares at him with wide eyes before her gaze falls onto the new set up for her plants.

“Oh, hey Marinette.” He winks. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I...what?”

He cringes. “Nothing. _Hey_.”

“Hello?” Marinette shakes her head. Then she laughs. “Papa said he sent you upstairs to the balcony and I ran up as fast as I could -- by any chance, did you have a look around my bedroom on your way up?”

“No?”

“Good.”

“What?”

“Nothing. So. What’s up?”

“Right.” Adrien beams at her as he gestures to the shelf. “This is for you.”

Marinette looks at the shelf like somehow she never noticed it there. Her lips part, like she’s trying to get something out but doesn’t know what. Her eyes go from comically wide before lowering. She watches him with wonder in her gaze, like she can’t comprehend a gift like this from him. He starts to fidget, worried she hates him and whatever he might want to offer him, but Marinette nods and bites her bottom lip. She continues nodding slowly, as if processing his words, and Adrien thinks her cheeks look a bit flushed.

Marinette nears the shelf and runs her fingers along the sanded and pink-painted edges. She touches the string of pearls and sniffs the jasmine. When she’s taken it all in, she turns to him with a smile.

“This is all so beautiful, Adrien.” 

Adrien rolls his eyes fondly. “You don’t have to lie to me, Marinette.” He knocks on the wood that, fortunately, no longer wobbles. “It’s not like I’m about to open my own woodworking company.”

“Wait.” Her jaw drops. “You _made_ this?!”

Adrien nods. She continues gawking at him, making him blush. His hand finds the back of his neck and rubs at it nervously. “Er, yeah. It’s not the best, obviously, but I tried. I mean, you always make _your_ gifts. I figured I should try doing the same--”

He grunts when Marinette pulls him into a hug. Her arms wind around his middle and after a moment, Adrien slowly puts his own on her too. She feels warm against him, and when she doesn’t seem like she’s going to let go anytime soon, Adrien rests his cheek upon her head.

“Thank you so much, Adrien.” 

She releases him, much to his dismay, and marvels at the display he created. She notices his scrawled signature on one of the shelves and runs her finger along the curves. 

“I love it.”

Looking into her eyes, Adrien wonders why he didn’t think to buy her bluebells. He promises her he’ll get them soon, but Marinette just giggles and tells him he’s done more than enough. 


End file.
